As a next step in the analysis, we look at the distribution of floods across the different continents throughout time. The goal is to identify possible patterns, and address questions such as:
To do this, we will divide the data into 4 roughly equally sized time periods: 1985-1993, 1994-2000, 2001-2008, 2009-2016. We will then produce plots for each continent during these periods, highlighting the flood events that occurred with their size indicating their total impact as measured on a scale that depends on displacement. A contour plot will also help us identify where clusters of these events occurred.
Interestingly on North America the majority of the events are concentrated on the east coast, while South America shows the opposite pattern. Some regions that are constantly affected by floods are the U.S. Mid-West, the Yucatan Peninsula, and the region that encompasses Colombia and Ecuador. Cuba, being an island, is also highly susceptible to these kind of natural disasters, with a large-displacement event occurring on during the 2000’s.